Oz

“We need to pause for a minute,” Niall panted out, making everyone slow for a moment. The group had been running nonstop for the last fifteen minutes, weaving in and out of the trees, tripping on logs and being hit in the face by bushes. Everyone looked winded, but fear was evident in many eyes. They couldn’t stop long. “Our bags are hidden somewhere around here.”

“Bags?” Ilythia asked, surprise fluttering across the girls beautiful face. Rowan nodded and vanished into the trees, only the sound of her crunching feet and moving shrubbery could be heard. A few curses and grunts later, she game out with several bags, tossing them to each member. “You packed bags? Brilliant!”

“Liam’s idea,” Niall and Rowan said at the same time, shooting a smile at their leaders. He really was the only one smart enough to think that sort of thing through. Liam said nothing, shouldering his pack as Rowan did the same. “I tried to put the things you all use most. You two,” she gestured to the Outsiders. “I don’t know you so, deal with what you have.”

Tossing the packs to them, the boy caught his easily, the girl missing and dropping it. Liam was quick to pick it up for her, placing it in her hands as she shot him a thankful smile.

Rowan was already disappearing into the bushes again, returning as she shoulder a quiver full of arrows and strapped a bow across the back. Niall mimicked her motions with his own bow. Grabbing the hilt of a sword, Rowan handed it to the young girl, who stared at it with surprise.

“Take it,” Rowan urged nodding at the girl. She slowly reached her hand out, taking it from Rowan’s hands. It sagged for a moment as she realized how heavy it was. “It’s probably got good balance for you. You’re about my size. I’m no good with swords, not quick enough with it. I’m better at aim.”

“Thank you.”

Rowan smiled as the girl got a firm grip on the hilt. Already she looked at it with adoration. “You look like you would make for a swordsman.”

“Is there a reason you’re arming Marianne?” the girl’s brother asked. He was tall with feathery brown hair, his dark blue eyes very irritated with Rowan. He looked very irritated in general. “She doesn’t need a weapon.”

“What do you suppose she’s going to do if we’re attacked?” Niall asked from behind Rowan, coming to her defense. Everyone around them was shouldering their packs and arming themselves. “Bat her eye lashes and hope they spare her?”

“Look-"

“Niall,” the blonde boy supplied and then began pointing out each member of their group. He did not enjoy being spoken to when someone had no idea what anyone’s names were. It often gave someone the opportunity to call you ‘boy’, which wasn’t flattering. “Rowan, Liam, Ilythia and Cecily. We have names. And yours?”

“Louis,” he answered with a glare. “Louis Tomlinson. And we didn’t come wherever the blazes this place is to fight a war.”

“We need to get moving again.” Everyone turned to look at Liam, who was looking up at the sky, as if he sensed the baboons would suddenly appear in the clear blue skies. That was not a pleasant idea in the slightest. “It’s nighttime now and we need to get moving quickly. Cec, do you know if there is anything following us?”

Cecily, who was standing off looking very lost picked up her head, as if just now becoming aware that she was not alone. Her gaze studiously ignored Louis, Rowan assuming it was because of his sour attitude. “One moment.”

Quickly, the girl vanished. Rowan wished she had the ability like Ilythia and Cecily to just materialize in and out of the darkness. Rowan and Niall both were not very good at making subtle entrances, which is perhaps they were better at killing with bows from a distance.

Just as fast as she had vanished, the girl returned, flushed after her conversation with the trees. Cecily’s talent of speaking among the trees truly was remarkable, and it would come in handy more than many other things. “The guards are searching for us all over the roads. They aren’t terribly close, but they are coming.”

“The dark forest,” Ilythia suggested, looking at everyone. The group became very still, eyes diverting and looking at the ground. No one wanted to admit they were scared of the dark forest, which contained many horrors and nightmares of Oz. “They won’t follow us there.”

“Because the wolves will fix the problem for them,” Niall muttered under his breath so that only Rowan could hear. She couldn’t help but smile a little, glancing at him through the corners of her eyes. “If you want to go prancing into the lion’s den, I suppose I should follow. Liam?”

All eyes went to their rock, their strength. Liam looked at the ground, deep in thought and working his jaw. Rowan had no idea what was going through his mind, but imminent death was going through hers. They had been crazy, to think that these two untrained strangers could help them.

Finally Liam looked up, decision and determination on his face. As long as he believed in their cause, it was impossible for Rowan to doubt them. Niall stepped up next to Rowan, their hands brushing lightly and sending butterflies through her. “To the dark forest it is,” he agreed, nodding once. “Let’s go.”

ɸɸɸ

Night crept on. The moon climbed into the sky at a steady pace, a silver beam of light that shown through the foliage and the trees to lead them on their way. It was a silver beacon of hope and light, and they followed it at a relentless pace, though the trees were unforgiving and tangling. The only one who did not stumble was Cecily.

Rowan was exhausted and her legs burned. She could run forever in an open field and no one would catch her. Stick her in a forest with roots, darkness and branches, and she was all over the place, ducking under branches, snagging in vines and twisting around trunks.

It was while she was thinking how much she hated it, that her foot caught on a tree root, sending her down hard. She barely had time to stick out her hands to lesson the fall, the feel of stings coming to her palms as they scraped in the dirt.

Niall was on her instantly, pulling her up by the waist, practically lifting her clear into the air. His blue eyes were bright in the darkness, searching her face as she coughed up soil, wiping her hands on her pants. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she assured, giving him a smile and trying to ignore the leap in her chest, knowing he wanted to make sure she was alright. She mentally slapped herself. They were best friends. That was his job. “Just tripping on myself. Nothing different. Continue on, everyone.”

“Look, we can’t keep running at this pace,” Ilythia said, panting. Everyone was out of breath, the siblings looking like they were about to collapse. “We can fast walk, but we’re going to kill ourselves. And we’re not exactly being quiet.”

“We’re close to the dark forest,” Liam agreed, starting off at a brisk walk. Everyone followed, catching their breaths at the slower, but not very slow pace. Rowan tapped Cecily, motioning to the back and imitating eating an apple. The girl smiled and nodded, fishing around her bag for one. “We can walk quickly and then we have to make haste. We need to follow the road through there.”

“There will be guards, don’t you think?” Niall reached into his bag and pulled out his own apple, crunching into it. Rowan absently reached her wand up and wiped away the juice running down his chin. He smiled at her and she blushed, turning away. “It’s the yellow brick road, after all.”

“The what?” Marianne question, looking back at him. She was ahead, walking right behind Liam. It seemed easier for her to follow his footsteps, since his were never faulty. The rest of them just trampled through the underbrush. “Your bricks are made of yellow?”

“What other color would they be?” Rowan inquired as if it were the silliest question on the planet. She couldn’t fathom that wherever they were from didn’t have yellow brick roads. The thought was strange.

“Well, red of course.”

“Strange.”

It took only but a few more minutes before the group finally made their way to the yellow brick road. Signaling it was safe, Liam led the line of people straight down the road towards the line of trees.

Approaching the line of trees, Rowan looked up. She could hardly quell the quaking fear that touched her heart. The trees were tall and spaced far apart, bare of any leaves. They were a cold grey color, like old and rotten skeletons standing watch like grims over a grave.

Walking among the trees, the air grew colder. At first, Rowan thought it was just her, but seeing Cecily shiver in front of her confirmed that it had indeed grown colder, and the sounds grew deeper, darker.

None of them spoke. Whether it was because they were trying to be brave, or too scared to speak, was unsure. But the silence pressed in on them as they followed the road, knowing it was too dangerous to stray from the paths in these woods. Things lurked in every dark crevice, in every plant and hole. It was unsafe, and many had come in the woods never to return again.

A soft sound made Rowan flinched and whip around, startling everyone else in the group. She searched the darkness with her eyes but saw nothing. The hairs on the back of her hand began to stand on end.

“Row, there’s nothing there,” Ilythia whispered. Niall was standing directly behind her, tall and protective. She could feel his warmth against her back, in the air that was so chilly. “Come on.”

“The trees here don’t speak,” Cecily whispered quietly to Niall and Rowan as they both turned around and began walking again. Cecily did not look very comfortable, as her eyes glanced up at the trees. “They’re awake, but say nothing. They feel like their waiting for something.”

“Dinner, I suppose,” Niall muttered.

The feeling of danger did not leave. In fact, it grew thicker as they walked forward. When she couldn’t stand it any longer, Rowan removed a single arrow from her quiver, nocking her arrow, fingers on the string. Niall saw her movements and imitated it.

A skittering sound hit all of their ears, coming from in front of them. Everyone in the group stopped, removing weapons. Rowan’s heart pounded and her fingers tightened. The darkness in front of them was too thick to see through, but something was there. She could feel it, and so could the others.

Cecily turned to say something to Rowan when she let out a shrill scream, trying to form a coherent warning, fumbling for her weapon. Rowan pulled her bow arm back, spinning and falling backwards as she tripped over a rock, letting her arrow loose. It sailed upwards, hitting the wing of a screaming harpy.

Harpies were foul winged creatures with wings like dragon’s, talons like a raven and the face of a woman. They were terrifying creatures that lived in the dark forest, terrorizing travelers, attracted by food. They were deadly, but they scared easily enough.

The harpy let out a shrill screech as the arrow pierce the thin membrane of it’s wing before Niall loosed another arrow, hitting it in the chest. The shot killed the creature, making it drop to the ground, it’s body crumbling into black dust on the ground.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Louis hollered as Niall helped Rowan up. She was out of breath, still surprised by the encounter. She hadn’t expected it to catch her so off guard.

“A harpy,” Liam said gravely, his eyes looking around them. Everyone was gripping weapons, anxious. “You’re in Oz now, Louis. Never forget that.”